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Twitch Starts Swinging YouTube-Like Copyright Sledgehammer [Updated]

If you ever wanted confirmation of the worst-kept secret in the gaming industry, that Twitch is very likely about to be acquired by GoogleGoogle, this is it. The streaming service has announced that it will be implementing what it calls “technology intended to help broadcasters avoid the storage of videos containing unauthorized third-party audio.”

In other words, it’s exactly the sort of thing YouTube does for copyrighted audio, something that has created headaches for countless gaming channels in the past and present. The problem? Unlike YouTube, Twitch is an entirely gaming-based site, meaning it directly effects nearly their entire userbase.

Twitch’s deal is with Audible Magic, which automatically scans through VODs (but not livestreams, mercifully) to find not only copyrighted music, the kind some streamers play idly, but also in-game music as well. If a violation is found, channels will find a 30 minute section of their video surrounding the offending audio passage muted, and to lift the mute, they have to file a counter-notice in compliance with the DMCA.

This is awful, yet it’s not entirely Twitch’s fault. Any video or audio company that gets this big has to protect themselves from potential copyright lawsuits in some form or another, especially when they’re probably about to be bought by the largest tech company in the world (though some don’t believe that’s what this move indicates). Many who don’t understand the situation would simply say “everyone should just leave these sites and start a new one with more freedom.” But when that site gets big enough? They’ll have to do the same thing due to the current rights issues at stake.

So instead, the fault lies with the overreaching of copyright holders, and a horrible automated system that flags a large amount of debatable audio or outright false positives.

The automated scanning and muting/copyright strike system that has plagued YouTube, and now is infesting Twitch VODs leads to any number of preposterous scenarios. Big gaming sites have had official trailers that were handed to them by the publisher flagged for copyright infringement. Any game that features a radio broadcast with actual music is a big target for auto-mute, apparently including one streamer’s Fallout 3 VODs, despite the fact that many of the tracks featured are garbled recordings of songs over 50 years old. Pokemon videos are muted for containing music from Pokemon. And most hilariously of all, even a VOD on Twitch’s official channel has been flagged for audio violation.

Thankfully, the technology does not yet exist to allow for live scanning of copyrighted music, meaning Twitch’s main attraction, livestreams, are safe for now. But you can bet that tech is being developed in some underground copyright supervillain headquarters somewhere. For now, VODs are getting muted awkwardly left and right, and content creators are yet again at the mercy of the site that hosts their videos, with little recourse at their disposal.

Yes, Twitch streamers should realize that the days of sitting at their computers playing endless playlists of clearly copyrighted music are coming to an end. I can’t honestly say that many streams are helped by blaring audio of pop songs (or death metal, or rap, or dubstep), so that isn’t some great loss.

But in-game audio is a serious problem. Often times companies got the license to use music in their games, but now that license does not translate to those games being streamed. This is something that absolutely needs to be sorted out between publishers and those making these claims (and sometimes claims are made on behalf of the publisher without them even initiating it). Muting audio or outright blocking content hurts not just the streamer, but the game itself, which is getting free publicity. Both new-gen consoles, PS4 and Xbox One are designed to stream on Twitch. But how can players know that publishers or other parties won’t flag them for copyright violations or mute their videos once their gameplay becomes a VOD on the site?

Nearly all publishers no longer have a problem with their games being streamed. But this audio nonsense has yet to catch up with the reality of the situation.

I suppose you can’t blame Twitch for wanting to cover their rear ends here, especially with such a potentially big deal looming, but implementing yet another awful automated system the way YouTube did is not the way forward. Publishers and content hosts like Twitch and YouTube need to make sorting out this mess a priority before they strangle their own growth in the process.

Update: Twitch’s CEO Emmett Shear is doing an AMA on reddit right now where he says that this muting system will never be implemented on livestreams, even if it was technically possible.

“We have absolutely no intention of running any audio recognition against live video, period….Even if we could run this on live this second, we absolutely would not.”

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